Process for treating pipe-line oil



Aug. 19, 1941. c. M. BLAIR, JR

PROCESS FOR TREATING PIPE-LINE OIL Filed May 31, 1940 '.Pfenieil ug. 1111,19141f f PROCESS FOB TREATIN G PIPE-LINE OIL Charles M. Blair, Jr., Webster Groves, Mo., assignor to Petrolite Corporation, Ltd., Wilmington, Del., a corporation of Delaware Application May 31, 1940, Serial No. 338,107

7Claims.

This invention relates to the treatment of petroleum oils for the purpose of removing or reducing the amount of certain objectionable substances in same, my present application being a continuation, in part, of my application Serial No.l 291,879, for Process for removal of watersoluble impurities from crude petroleum, illed August 25, 1939.

The main object of my invention is to provide a practicable process for removing water-soluble impurities, particularly dissolved inorganic salts from petroleum, topped oils, and crude fractions obtained by distillation.

The production of crude oil generally is accompanied by the production of naturally-occurring brines, .and such brines are usually suspended or emulsied in the crude oil. In many cases such suspended brine will settle out rapidly on permitting the emulsion to stand quietly. In other cases, however, the brine is so thoroughly emulsied in the oil, that a separation will not take place, even on prolonged standing. Such oil is commonly referred to as cut oil, roily oil, emulsied oil, etc., and represents anemulsion of the water-in-oil type.

Before such oil becomes marketable, its content of emulsified water or brine must be reduced to a relatively low value. The upper limit for such water or brine content is usually 2%, but is more apt to be 1% or 0.5%, or slightly less. Such dehydrated oil is commonly referred to as pipeline oil, since it meets the specifications set by the purchasing companies. The water, per se, present in the small amount of residual emulsion contained in the oil does not appear to be particularly objectionable in its eilect on reflning equipment or otherequipment involved in its handling. However, in the great majority of cases the residual emulsion contained in the pipeline oil does not consist of pure water, but is composed of an aqueous solution of inorganic salts, which was originally produced with the crude oil when it emerged from the ground. It has been found that such salts accompanying the oil are generally very objectionable to the refiner of the petroleum, and that it becomes extremely desirable to remove these impurities prior to further refining steps.

The presence of such inorganic salts in crude petroleum leads to two principal troubles, i. e., stoppage of iiow or restriction of flow, and corrosion; and these combine to result in eii'ects such as plugging of heat exchangers, decreased heat transfer, increased replacement costs, laccelerated coke formation, lowered quality of products, lowered yields of valuable products and greater labor requirements.

Numerous attempts have been made'to remove this residual salt, particularly that in the form of emulsiiied brine, from petroleum. On first sight, -it might appear that this could be accomplished by applications of methods commonly employed for treatment of ordinary emulsifled oil in the field. However, the conditions obtaining ln the refinery where the salt removal operation is usually carried out are generally different from those obtaining in the oil eld, where the 'emulsion, as originally produced, is dehydrated down to the pipeline requirements. In the latter case the emulsion may contain a large percentage oi! dispersed water or brine; whereas,pipellne oil, considered as an emulsion, is apt to contain only a few tenths of a percent of water as the dispersed phase, and very seldom over v2%. In the average field dehydration plant the daily capacity is usually sufficiently small to permit very long settling times, perhaps as much as twenty four hours or more; Whereas, in the refinery the daily capacities are much higher and usually sufficient space is not available to permit more than two hours settling time, and often one hour or less is the longest settling period available. Pipeline oil, as a rule, represents an aged emulsion which is usually weeks old and may be months or even years old. As a result, the dispersed particles in this emulsion are highly stabilized and diil'lcult to resolve. Furthermore, these aged emulsion particles have previously been subjected to the action of some demulsifying means when the oil was originally treated in the eld, and having come thru such treatment, must represent the more refractory and less resolvable portion of the original emulsion.

'I'he removal of inorganic salts from pipeline oil, in other ways, differs markedly from the ordinary eld dehydration of cut oil or roily oil. In the latter case the operation results in the conversion of a non-marketablel material into a marketable one, and consequently, this operation will justify a relatively high cost. In removal of water-soluble impurities from the pipeline oil, the change brought about is one of degree, rather than of kind, and fthe justified expense is relatively small.

Since the water-soluble impurities contained in pipeline oil generally occur in the form of an aqueous solution in the remaining few tenths of a percent of emulsifled water, it is clear then that the problem of the removal of these impurities can be solved, at least theoretically, by'

the removal of this remaining emulsified water. Numerous methods have been proposed and employed for effecting this removal. kI'he simplest methods proposed have involved mechanical operations, such as sedimentation or filtration, or a combination of these; but such methods are generally unsatisfactory, due to the fact thatv 'filtering medium, involving frequent replacement' and its attendant expense. Such methods have found very limited application in actual pract ce.

It appears to be extremely diil'icult to remove the last tenth of a percent or so of emulsified brine from a petroleum oil by any common means of demulsification, be it mechanical, electrical, or chemical. Yet, the amount of inorganic salts which can be carried by even 0.1% `of emulsied brine may be much more than enough tocause serious diillculties during the refining process.

Mechanical procedures have also been proposed for use in connection with the introduction or dispersion of. fresh water in the oil in predetermined amounts to act as-a washing medium for removal of water-soluble impurities. However, on dispersing or mixing water with oil it generally becomes emulsifled, due to the presence of emulsifying agents commonly occurring in the oil, and the problem of removal of both the original emulsion particles and the added salt- ,free water arises. Here again, the rate of sedimentation of particles is generally too small to permit successful operation, and due to the protective action of the emulsifying agent in the petroleum, c oalescence of drops, is prevented or reduced. Where a filtration procedure is employed, the lter rapidly becomes clogged with emulsion particles, which results in stoppage of the flow and necessitates careful attention and frequent replacement of the filtering medium.

One method which has been proposed and employed is to use an electrical dehydrator of the kind commonly employed in the resolution of` cut oil to separate the prepared emulsion of predetermined water content, as previously described. In many instances, the adoption of the electrical dehydration process is eminently satisfactory, but it involves an added expense in the cost of an electrical dehydrator, and often requires the attention of a skilled operator to obtain uniformly successful results.

Another procedure which has been proposed is to subject an emulsion or dispersion of a predetermined amount ofl fresh water in the pipeline oil to the action of a chemical demulsiiler of the kind ordinarily used in resolution of roily oil or cut oil, followed by a settling period so as to permit sedimentation ofthe water particles. Buch procedure, although it represents the simplest operative steps, in that no expensiveapparatus must-be purchased, and in that no skilled attention is required, still has proven unsatisfactory, in that little or no separation takes place within the limits of refinery economy. In other words, in the ordinary refinery practice separabut there is one reason alone which is sumcient, and that is, in order to obtain chemical demulsi'- flcation, one usually must heat the oil; and in ordervto prevent the loss of heat units, it is necessary that such heated oil be transferred to the furnace and fractionating still without delay, so that there will not be any marked heat loss. This is diametrically opposite to the practice which is employed in the oil fields. In oil field practice emulsied oil may be heated to any desirable temperature, and may require twenty four hours for separation. The fact that the heat units are lost during such long period is absolutely immaterial, because the oil must be cooled in any event before it is marketable. libr this reason procedures which are satisfactory in oil field practice fail utterly in desalting practice, for the reason indicated, i. e., inability to produce a rapid break.

In order to avoid heat losses, as has been previously pointed out, separation must be relatively fast in ordinary refinery practice. It also must be rapid for another reason, and that is, that space is not available, as a rule, to permit long periods of settling, such as are feasible and commonly used in oil .field practice concerned with the resolution of cut or roily oil. The importance of all this, of course, is appreciated to a greater degree when one realizes L at the through-put of the average refinery is much greater than the through-put of an ordinary eld treating plant.

I have found that water-soluble impurities may be rapidly and cheaply removed from petroleum, provided added salt-free water is dispersed into the oil to form a mixture in which the major proportion of original brine particles co-exist with but are not combined with droplets of added water, and further, provided that such mixture is subsequently subjected, in the presence of a chemical demulsifler, to a period of gentle agitation of the kind hereinafter to be described. The period of gentle agitation must be sufficiently long to insure proper operation, and will be found usually to lie in the range of one-half minute to fifteen minutes, and preferably two minutes or more.

lIn the herein described process which constitutes my present invention, the fresh water is added to the oil stream in a predetermined and controlled amount and is then dispersed or mixed into the oil in such a manner that actual physical mixing of fresh water and original brine does not take place to any great extent. In such an emulsion, the original brine droplets contained in the 'oil retain their identity and are present in substantially their original concentration and undiluted by the added fresh water, which is dispersed into the oil in the form of separate droption must take place relatively rapidly. usually within less than two hours, and often within less lets. To state it in another way, my process contemplates mixing the fresh water with the oil in such a manner and in such proportions as to cause a major portion of the original water droplets to co-exist with the droplets of the added water, without however, causing a predominant portion of the impurities inthe original water droplets to become immediately associated or combined with the fresh added water.

- The final emulsion obtained after dispersion of the fresh water is an unusual one, since it contains two kinds of dispersed phase-one consisting of original brine droplets, .and one consisting of relatively salt-free water. The emixill sion resulting from this type of dispersion, containing chemical demulsiner, generally will partially separate on long standing at elevated temperatures: but vthe pbase settling out will be found to consist mainly of freshwater, while the oil phase retains Lmost of its original salt content in the form of emulsified brine. Y

Ifhowever, this prepared dispersion containing chemical demulsifler is subjected to a period of gentle agitation of the kind to be described. and is then permitted to settle quietly, separation of phases takes place rapidly and emciently to leave a relatively salt-free oil. In this case the treated oilI after separation of the dispersion, still may have a water content as high or even somewhat higher than the original untreated t tive' suilciently to every droplet dispersed in the oil. butto the greater proportion of droplets: As previously mentioned. satisfactory results may be obtainedl lo Having obtained the desired dispersion of fresh water in oil to form an emulsion containing two kinds of dispersed aqueous phase, the next step in my process is one of subjecting said emulsion, in the presence of a chemical demulsitler, to a crude, but much of the small amount of residual period of gentle agitation. It is asurprising fact emulsion in the treated oil consists of the added that the use or employment of this step converts fresh water, rather than the original brine. By an otherwise unsuccessful, or at best, inefiicient this procedure, then, eillcient removal of waterprocess into a highly successful and economical soluble impurities is effected without the necesone, As 1s wen known, gitstign of twg imsity of resorting to the dilcult PrOceSS 0f extreme 20 miscible liquids tends to emulsify one within the dehydration, other; and it is almost unpredictable that in In those rare cases where the oil contains diS- the process I have devised, gentle agitation actupersed particles of solid salt or other solid waterany leads o resolution of the peculiar emulsion soluble impurities, the proper emlllSiCatiOn 0f being treated. Because of this fact, it seems the fresh water in the oil will yield a disperSiCn desirable to emphasize the importance of this again containing two kinds of dispersed phase. unlooked-for accomplishment by a table giving solid salt and fresh water. In some instances comparative data. In the following table it is both solid salt and brine may be Present in the to be noted that all the conditions of treatment pipeline oil. Here, addition of fresh water can of a given oil are held constant in the different lead to the formation of a dispersion containing tests, except that the step of gentle agitation is three internal phases. i omitted in some. The results on the ilrst three Any suitable means may be employed to brin oils were obtained from laboratory tests, while about this admixture, dispersion or emulsiilcation the results shown for the last two oils were obof the kind described. Sometimes the natural tained in actual plant operations conducted on a passage or commingling of the iluids as they are :l5 large scale.

Orsiliga Percent (r lslallgl Source f petroleum coment used per Type of aiiiign preceding (min.)l content ses g ses nii complete bbls Texas Panhandle 493 1o 4 {gigggg IIDI g 323.0 Gentle only 44. 3 East'rexas 16.5 10 1.6 {xiglrluuss ('Y) 1 gg flig essas-= 30 minors 110 10 5 {vioroupiusspt'ij i313 iig ffuni'sm-W 3 "0 Louisiana 256 10 1.5 {vigomuspluspsnltim' g3 (12151? f Gentle only. 90 24.0 Arkansas and East Tex- 2 3 4 Silisgsnltll): gg ss (blend). o Gentle only 60 19. 4

forced through a pump will be suillcient. A con- It will be noted in the above table that fairly venient and easily controlled method of obtaining good salt removal results could be obtained by the desired dispersion is to pass the uids subjecting the mixture of oil and water, containthrough a so-called globe valve or weighted ing chemical demulsiiler, to the step of gentle pressure relief valve giving a predetermined and agitation alone, without a preliminary more functionally satisfactory pressure drop. In other violent dispersion. In this case, the first part instances, the passage of the iiuids through oriof the gentle agitation may be considered the fice plates, baille pipes or pieces of equipment equivalent of the usual preliminary dispersing such as heat exchangers or small coils, may be Stage and represents an extreme case where the used to obtain satisfactory dispersion. The agiadded fresh water is dispersed in a very coarse tation required to obtain the desired dispersion or loose form as particles having sizes consideror emulsion is generally relatively violent or ably larger than corresponds to those in the previgorous. It must be suiiiciently intense to cause ferred range of 3 mu to 200 mu. When such distribution or dispersion of the added fresh gentle agitation alone is used as the preliminary water into smaller droplets, but not so intense dispersing operation, the total time of subseas to result in shearing of many of the small brine droplets originally present in the oil.

I have found that the droplet sizes of dispersed salt-free water may vary over quite wide limits;

but best results are usually obtained if the Water quent gentle agitation usually must be increased considerably to obtain good results.

In view of the fact that the effectiveness of the entire process is dependent upon the employment of gentle agitation. under conditions whichl y an average pal'-v ticle size of about 3 mu to 200 mu in diameter. Such reference to .sise obviously does not apply 4 v are functionally sumcient, it appears extremely desirable to describe or denne gentle agitation for tbe purpose oi its employment in the herein described process. Generally speaking, agitation of the proper kind can readily be obtained by* turbulent flow through ordinary pipe and its attendant nttinss. This avoids the use of additional expensive machinery or an especially prepared mixing device.y Furthermore, it often happens that such gentle agitation, by means oi' turbulent flow, can be obtained by proper arrangement ot equipment normally used lin reilnery processing. In any event, such arrangement can usually. be obtained at only slightly additional expense by some minor adaptation or conversion of available or existing equipment. It isunderstood, however. that a person skilled in the art could employ any suitable means, device or method which would give gentle agitation comparable or analogous in nature to that hereinafter described in detail. It is understood that the present invention is not limited to use of gentle agitation obtained only by turbulent iiow through ordinary pipe and fittings, but that any equivalent procedure is suitable.

As is well understood, the character of iiow in l pipes is dependent upon several variables, such as size of pipe, velocity of flow, viscosity of the fluid, and density of the fluid. The nature of the iiow may be characterized by a dimensionlessconstant, known as the Reynolds number. This 'number for ilow in any particular system may be calculated from the variables which have just been mentioned, and it has been found by ex- -tensiveexperimentation that when this figure is greater than about 2,100, the iiow is turbulent, in contradistinction to streamline or yiscous iiow. Where riuids flow through constrictions or through pipe fittings, such as bends and turns, the Reynolds number characterizing the agitation at these points may be estimated from a consideration of the pressure drop through these constrictions or fittings and of the actual structural arrangements. For a discussion of the Reynolds number and methods of calculating the same see Principles of Chemical Engineering,

by Walker, Lewis, McAdams and Gilliland, Mc-

Graw-Hill, i937, page 60, et seq.

Obviously, if the tlow becomes extremely turbulent, or if the pressure drop through the system becomes too abrupt, one no longer obtains the gentle agitation of the `kind contemplated.

"I'hereiore, it has been iound that the fluid flow,

characterized by a Reynolds number larger than about 200,000, or perhaps 300,000, can no longer, forv the purposes of the present invention. be considered as gentle agitation. When the Reynolds number exceeds thisupper limit of 200,000 to 300,000, one obtains violent agitation, with attendant shearing action. on dispersed water droplets.

Although it may be true that it is dimcult to determine the Reynolds number with'extreme accuracy when the value is considerably in excess oi the l pper limits previously mentioned, however, examination of many devices, such as emulsiiying valves, oriice plates, etc. indicates a Reynolds number so high that eventhough it is determined only approximately, and even though the error in determination maybe substantial, yet obviously, it is of a range far beyond the indicated .maximum limit. Buch agitation is unsuited for the step or stage prior to separation or settling. Thus, gentle agitation, as herein contemplated, is the kind characterised by a particular installation.

Reynolds number of 2,100 to 300,000 or its functional equivalent.

The water employed in my process should be as free from inorganic salts as possible. In actual practice one must employ the most suitable water whichhappens to be available at the l In such circumstances the fresh water may, in fact, carry minor or unobjectionable quantities of salts. There is no fixed rule as to the amount oi water which shall be added, but generally speaking, it approximates live to twenty times the amount of brine which is present, or, in a general way, it approximates 3% to 10% by volume of the pipeline oil being subjected to treatment. Factors which determine the amount of water are cost oi water, ease of disposal, salt content of the crude to be treated, and loss of heat units in draw-olf water, unless such heat units can be utilized in ay suitable manner. It is unusual to obtain effective treatment with less than 2% of added water, and it is unusual to ilnd circumstances which require more than 10% of added water.

The terms fresh water and salt-free water" have been used throughout the previous discussion to describe the water added to the oil in my process, and it has been pointed out that as pure water as possible should be used in the process. However, in some instances it may become necessary or desirable for reasons of economy or convenience to use a water of rela-l tively high salt content, or a so-called brackish or hard water. In some instances someoi the Water settling out in the settling vessel employed in the present process may be mixed with fresh water, and this mixture Athen added to the oil entering the salt-removal system. In this case, part of the water used in the process is recycled. However, in all such cases as these where other than strictly fresh water is employed, the concentration in such Water of those compounds which are to be removed from the oil must be lower than the concentration of these same constituents in the brine forming the dispersed phase in the pipeline oil. In other words, the water added in the process should be more iree of the impurities to be removed from the oil than is the dispersed aqueous phase in the original oil. The terms fresh water" and "saltire'e water, as used in the claims, will be intended to include such water as above described.

Where somewhat brackish or hard water is employed in the process, results usually will not be quite as good as where the same volume of strictly fresh water is used.

The chemical demulsifier used in my process may be added at three different points in the process, i. e., to the pipeline oil before the dispersion of fresh water therein, to the fresh water before its dispersion in the oil, or to the mixture of oil and water prior to its passage through the gentle agitation zone. In some cases the demulsilier may be added at more than one of these points. Experience has shown that addition of the demulsifier to the oil prior to introduction of the fresh water usually leads to the most effective removal of water-soluble impurities; but this is not'invariably so.

'I'he selection of the proper demulsifying agent is best determined by an adaptation of the methods commonly employed in selecting a demulsifying agent for the ordinary cut or roily oil. I'he same type of demulsifying agents employed in the resolution of roily oil and obviously suitable for this particular purpose, since the resins: sull'o-abietin; sulfonatedamides: modined fatty acids obtained by the sulfonation or sulfation of fatty acids or fatty materials, followed by hydrolytic and polymerization steps: hydroxylated amides: Twitchell reagent type compounds; products obtained by oxidation or blowing of various oils', particularly selected vegetable oils: acylated or halogenated fatty bodies: Quaternary ammonium compounds: alkyl-aryl sulfonic acid salts: derivatives of fatty materials, in combination with polybasic acids, such as oxslic acid orl phthalic acid, and particularly, when further combined with various glycerols -or amines; alkylated hydroaromatic bodies of the sulfo type;

v sulfonated amines; acylated cation-active compounds; materials akin to synthetic tanning agents, and derived by sulfonation of aromatic bodies and aldehydes or ketones; acylated diamines, etc. My preference is to use an oil-soluble demulsiiier, particularly one of the multiple type, i. e., one obtained by admixture of-two diiferent types oi'demulsiflers, rather than one consisting only of members oi' a single class or species.

In testing various demulslfiers one naturally may add the demulsifier in suitable form to either the oil or to the fresh water prior to admixture, or one may add the demulsitler to the admixed conglomerate. In any event, however, one cannot test the demulsiiler or make a comparison between various demulsiilers, unless the rtesting procedure includes a step of gentle agitation just prior to settling. In such experimentation one can use one of a number of various commercially available laboratory shaking or mixing machines of the kind which are adjustable, so as to give different degrees of agitation.

In actual plant practice temperatures of the oil and water employed in a desalting operation may vary considerably. However, it has been found from actual experience that better admixture of a chemical demulsiiier, better commingling of the oil and water, and more rapid sedimentation takes place if the temperatures are relatively high. After the chemical demulsier has been mixed with the water and oil and the whole subjected to a period of gentle agitation, it i-s then settled for a short period of time, or for a length of time sufllcient for separation of the aqueous phase. All other things being equal, the temperature at which this settling is allowed to take place should be as high as possible, without being so high as to cause a violent vaporization and attendant agitation in the settler under the existing pressure. Average temperatures may vary from 160 F. to 300 F. Pressure in the settler may be less than atmospheric, or preferably, greater than atmospheric, that is operating under conditions that will show a. gauge pressure of to 200 lbs. with 10 to 100 lbs. as the usual range, but sufllciently high to prevent vaporization and attendant turbulence in the settler. g

No description is necessary for indicating a suitable means for heating either the water or oil. Needless to say, the same means are employed would be used for other purposes. The water may be heated by any suitable means, and the oil may be heated by any device of the kind regularly employed in rennery practice. The chemical demulsiiler may be added by any suitable means, such as a proportional pump. metering device, lubricator, etc. As a means of obtaining gentle agitation, I have found it most desirable to use a circuit of ordinary pipe varying from 2 to 8 or 10 inches in diameter, depending upon the fluid through-put. so as to give a Reynolds number of approximate range of 5,000 to 50,000. Settling may take place in any suitable vessel, with a suitable inlet to receive the mixture of liquids after the period of gentle agitation, provided, of course. that there is the proper outlet for the draw-off water and for the desalted oil. Buch vesselof course, would be so constructed as to withstand the accompanying pressure, it any. As to the period oi' gentle agitation, as previously pointed out, it may vary from one-half minute to fifteen or more minutes; but I prefer to use whatever period appears as the result of the natural path through the plane circuit, unless such period is not suiiicient; and in that event, I prefer to increase the period of gentle agitation to the value which produces rapid settling in the subsequent stage. Generally speaking, gentle agitatiiontfor a period of two to live minutes is suilic en In view of what has been said previously, it appears that further description as to the most suitable manner of carrying out my process is unnecessary. However, it may be desirable to indicate the nature of the steps in an ordinary plant, which, of course, may be changed or adapted to meet particular needs. Reference to the drawing is made hereinbelow:

In the accompanying drawing I have illustrated an apparatus that may be used for practising my process above described. In said drawing the reference character i designates a storage tank of suitable capacity for holding fresh water, 2 designates a similar storage tank, of larger capacity, adapted to hold pipe line oil, 3 designates a relatively small container for the storage of a liquid demulsiiier or solution of the demulsier, 4 designates a metering pump which adds the chemical demulsiiler at some predetermined ratio, sometimes as much as one part of demulsiiler to 10,000 parts of pipeline oil, and in other instances as little as one part of demulsifier to 50,000 parts of pipeline oil, or less, 5 designates a measuring device to determine the fresh water through-put, 6 designates a similar measuring device to determine the pipeline oil through-put, 1 designates a pump to actuate the movement of fresh water, 8 designates a similar pump to move the pipeline oil, 9 designates a heater of the conventional type for heating pipeline oil to any predetermined temperature, as previously indicated, i0 designates a similar heater for fresh water, and i i designates a thermometer to record the temperature of the heated pipeline oil.

In said drawing the reference character I2 designates a similar thermometer to record the 4temperature of the heated fresh water, i3 designates a check valve to insure the forward ilow of the pipeline oil, il. designates a check valve to insure the forward ow of fresh water, i3'i designates the junction inlet of heated pipeline oil and fresh water into the emulsifyin Valve, W* designates the fresh water line to the junction P01111?.

as I5 designates an adjustable emulsifying valve of the balanced pressure type. which may be opened completely to act as a by-pass or conduit, if desired, l* designates an outlet from the emulsifylng valve. and Il, il and il designate valves to determine or regulate the'length and timeot circuit through the 'gentle agitation sone.

The said apparatus ls equipped `with any suitable means that will give one or more sones of gentle agitation. auch. for example, as` a pipe circuit 22, 28 and 2l. that gives one sone of gentle agitation. anda separate and distinct pipe circuit il. 2l and 2l that gives a second sone of gentle agitation. The reference character 2i designates the outlet from the gentle agitation sone and inlet to-settier. designates the settling tank and generally operates under pressure, 2l designates the inside conduit to the distributor shoe. 21 designates the distributor shoe to prevent undue turbulence. 2| designates a pressure gauge to measure the pressure in the settler, Il designates a relief valve lor the protection of the settler, 2i

l designates a separated waste water outlet to the sump, 22 designates the control valve for the waste water outlet, 22 designates the desalted pipeline oil outlet to the still, 2| designates a sampling valve for obtaining asample of desalted pipeline oil as it goes to the stili, Il designates a sampling valve to measure the height of the settled water layer, Il designates a thermometer to record the temperature of the outgoing desalted pipelineoil. and 4l designates the upper surface of separated oil phase.

` Actual operation, -of course, is obvious from the previous description. When the operation is started it may be well to add considerably more demulsiiier than is actually required, In other words, asloil is pumped from tank 2 to heater I, thechemicalisiniectedfrolnthereservoirtby means of the metering pump l. Simultaneously fresh water is pumped from the storage tank l through the metering device I, and pump 1 to heat exchanger, indicated by Il. 'I'he speeds oi' the pumps are regulated so that the lmetering devices l and t indicate. the proper predetermined proportion. Metering pump 4 for the chemical demulsitler is regulated in the manner previously indicated.' The heaters l and I 0 are regulated so that both water and oil leave the heaters at the proper temperature, as indicated byk thermometers Il and I2. The emulsifying valve Il is set to a properly determined pressure, and if desired, may be equipped with a sampling valve, so that a sample may be withdrawn and examined microscopically, in order to determine the particlesize distribution. Valves Il and il are closed, and valve I1 is permitted to remain open. The heated commingled i'luids pass from outlet Il* through the circuit indicated by I1, 22, 22, 2l and 25 to the settler. When suilicient water has accumulated in the settler, it is drawn ot! by means of the outlet 2l and control valve 32. The proper temperature and pressure conditions in the settler are indicated by the pressure gauge 2t and thermometer It. Samples of oil are taken from the sampler Il and examined for salt content. The upper oil level in the settler is indicated by line 4l. Such operation should be successful from the start, and should not Vinvolve diiliculties', due to an excessive amount of demulsifying agent. Once operation is started, amount of demulsifying agent injected by the metering pump 4 is decreased to a predetermined amount. If desired, violent agitation for producing distribution, or emulsincation, of the fresh water may be replaced by a device pro..

noted that methods for the analysis of the assure viding gentle agitation only. Forv instance, if desired. the'emulsifying valve il may be opened -wide. ao that it acts only as a by-pass or outlet.

Valves il and It are opened, and valve' i1 closed. This then forcesthe fluids througha longer or double sone of gentle agitation. and the sone of agitation. characterid by the il, 2l and 2l, although supplying only gentle agitation. is the functional equivalent of the instantaneously acting emulsifying valve. or its equivalent.

present in the originalplpeline oil, and the absolute values of salt content should be as low 25 lbs. per 1,000 barrels, and exceptionally practice will often reduce the value to 20 lbs. less per 1,000 barrels of pipeline oil. It is content of both pipeline oil and desalted oil are recorded in the literature and do not require further elaboration.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by letters Patent is:

1. A process for treating pipe line oil to reduce the inorganic salt content of the oil, which comprises mixing fresh water withA thepipe iinegoii in such a manner as to produce an admixture in which a maior portion of the original water droplets co-exist with but are not combined withthe droplets oi' the added water, heating at least the oil of the admixture to bring the admixture to a suitable elevatedbreaking temperature, subjecting the heated admixture to a period of gentle agitation characterized by a Reynolds number of between 2100 and 300,000, for a period of from 2 to 5 minutes, to eii'ect coalescence to a large extent of the original water droplets with the co-existing water droplets, accompanied by coalescence of the added water droplets so that the coalesced water masses will remove the greater part of the salt content of the original pipe line oil, incorporating a chemical demulsifyving agent in the admixture prior to the period of produce a mixture in which a major portion ofl the original brine 4droplets co-exist with but are not combined with droplets of the added water, heating at least the oil of the admixture to bring the admixture to a suitable elevated breaking temperature, subjecting the heated admixture to gentle agitation characterized by a Reynolds number of between 2100 and 300,000, for a period of from 2 to 5 minutes, so as to effect coalescence to a large extent of the original brine droplets with the co-existing added water droplets, accompanied by coalescence of the added water droplets so that the coalesced water masses will remove the greater part of the salt content of the original pipe line oil, incorporating a chemical Ademulsii'ying agent in the adm'ixture prior to the period of gentle agitation, and set--l tling the admixture and separating the oil and water phases.

3,-A process for treating pipe line oil to reduce the inorganic salt content of the oil, which comprises mixing fresh water with the pipe line aabaoe oil in such a manner as to produce an admixture in which a major portion of the original water droplets co-exist with but are not combined with the droplets of the added water, heating at least the oil of the admixture w bring the admixture to a suitable elevated breaking temperature, sub- Jecting the heated admixture to gentle agitation characterized by a Reynolds number of between 2,100 and 300,000 for a period of from 2 to 5 minutes so as to eifect coalescence to a large extent of the original water droplets with the co-existing added water droplets, accompanied by coalescence ofy the added water droplets so that the coalesced water masses will remove the greater part oi the salt content of the original pipe line oil, incorporating a chemical demulsifying agent in the admixture prior to the period of gentle agitation, and settling the admixture and separating the water and oil phases.

4. A process for treating pipe line oil containing brine droplets to remove the salt content of the oil, which comprises mixing fresh water with the pipe line oil and passing the same through an emulsifying device to produce an admixture in which a major portion of the original brine droplets co-exist with but are not combined with the droplets of the added water, heating at least the oil of the admixture to bring the admixture to a suitable elevated breaking temperature, subjecting the heated admixture to a period of gentle agitation characterized by a Reynolds number of between 2,100 and 300,000 and for a period of from 2 to 5 minutes to eilect coalescence to a large extent of the original brine droplets with the co-existing added water droplets, accompanied by coalescence of the added water droplets so that the coalesced water masses will remove the greater part of the salt content of the original pipe line oil, incorporating a chemical demulsifying agent in the admixture prior to the period of gentle agitation, and settling the admixture and separating the water and oil phases.

5. A process for treating pipe line oil containing brine droplets to reduce the inorganic salt content of the oil, which comprises mixing fresh water with the pipe line oil in such a manner as to produce an admixture in which the major portion of the original brine droplets co-exist but are not combined with the droplets of the added water which range in size from 3 mu to 200 mu, heating at least the oil of fthe admixture to bring the admixture to a suitable elevated breaking temperature, subjecting the heated admixture to a period of gentle agitation characterized by a Reynolds number of between 2,100 and 300,000, for a period of from 2 to 5 minutes, to effect coalescence to a large extent of the original brine i droplets with the co-existing added water dropi mixture prior to the period of gentle agitation,

and settling the admixture and separating the oil and water phases.

6. A process for treating pipe line oil containing droplets of brine to remove the inorganic salt content, which' comprises mixing with the pipe line oil between 2 and ,10% of fresh Water in such a manner as to produce an admixture in which a major portion o1V the original brine droplets co-exist with but are not combined with the droplets of the added water, bringing the admixture to a suitable elevated breaking temperature, then subjecting the heated admixture to a period of gentle agitation characterized by a Reynolds number of between 2100 and 300,000, for a period of from 2 to 5 minut-es, to effect coalescence to a large extent of the original water droplets with the coexisting added water droplets, accompanied by coalescence of the added water droplets so that the coalesced water masses will remove the greater part of the salt content of the original pipe line, incorporating a chemical demulsifying agent in the admixture prior to the period of gentle agitation, and settling the admixture and separating the oil and water phases.

7. A process for treating pipe line oil containing less than about 1% of brine to reduce the salt content, which comprises mixing the oil with from 2 to 10% by volume of fresh water, emulsifying the same so that the major portion of the original brine droplets co-exst with but are not combined with droplets of the added water, bringing the emulsion to a suitable elevated breaking temperature,l subjecting the emulsion at said elevated breaking temperature to a period of gentle agitation of from 2 to 5 minutes and at a Reynolds number of 2,100 to 300,000 to effect coalescence to a large extent of the co-existng original brinedroplets with the added water droplets, accompanied by coalescence of added water droplets so that the coalesced Water masses will remove the greater part of salt content4 of the original pipe line oil, in-

corporating a chemical demulsifying agent in the admixture prior to theY period of gentle agitation, and settling and separating the oil and water phases.

CHARLES M. BLAIR, JR. 

